Two extra M6 stretches earmarked for speedvan monitoring

Two stretches of the M6 in Westmeath are among 61 new safety camera zones that are to become operational from 6am this Tuesday, July 26, bringing the total number of safety camera zones nationwide to 1,373.

One of the zones in which motorists can now expect to enconter GoSafe mobile camera vans covers around 2.5kms in Kilbeggan, mainly on the west side of Junction 5 (Tullamore junction) while the other is a stretch of almost 3.5kms running mainly on the west side of the Athlone Services junction.

Announcing the new zones, An Garda Safety stated that cameras operate in areas where there is a history of speed related collisions known as speed enforcement zones, and that the primary purpose of safety cameras is to reduce speed-related collisions, lessen injuries and save lives.

The Garda statement said completion of an updated collision analysis of the road network based on recent available collision statistics was aimed at enabling the force to take a proactive approach in the prevention of fatalities and life changing injuries by identifying new speed enforcement zones not currently being monitored as part of the current project.

The 61 new locations were selected following an analysis of collated Garda data acquired from fatal, serious and minor road traffic collisions and from further consideration given to locations of concern highlighted by local communities through local Garda Community engagement.

Road deaths have decreased from 415 in 2000 to 137 in 2021. To date in 2022, there have been 89 road deaths an increase in 28 over 2021 and 13 to date in 2019.

All zones are available on the Garda website here.